Boehner: Romney friends, relatives and 'fellow Mormons' will be for him, can't make people love him

By MAGGIE HABERMAN

07/07/2012 02:12 PM EDT

Via Roll Call, House Speaker John Boehner had a candid take on the turnout driver for the top of the ticket this fall, when asked by a voter whether he can make that person "love Mitt":

Romney took a relatively long time to conquer his rivals in the GOP primary, and some Republicans have recently expressed concern about the state of the former Massachusetts governor’s campaign against President Barack Obama.

But at a June 30 fundraiser in Wheeling, W.Va., Speaker John Boehner offered a surprisingly frank assessment of the dynamic that surprised some in the audience.

Aside from Romney’s “friends, relatives and fellow Mormons,” Boehner said, most people will be motivated to vote for him in opposition to Obama.

The Ohio Republican made the remarks when an unidentified woman asked during a question-and-answer session: “Can you make me love Mitt Romney?”

“No,” Boehner said. “Listen, we’re just politicians. I wasn’t elected to play God. The American people probably aren’t going to fall in love with Mitt Romney. I’ll tell you this: 95 percent of the people that show up to vote in November are going to show up in that voting booth, and they are going to vote for or against Barack Obama.

“Mitt Romney has some friends, relatives and fellow Mormons ... some people that are going to vote for him. But that’s not what this election is about. This election is going to be a referendum on the president’s failed economic policies.

“Mitt Romney believes, just like we do, that if we’re going to get the economy back, if we’re going to put the American people back to work, we need to fix the Tax Code, we need to stop the regulatory juggernaut that’s going on in Washington and we need to fix our economy. Solid guy, he’s going to do a great job, even if you don’t fall in love with him.”

The emphasis is mine. Boehner is not wrong that the driver for voters on the GOP side will be heavily anti-Obama. But few have put it in such blunt terms, invoking Romney's faith, and making clear that he is not the likability candidate — a factor that Democrats are increasingly hanging on to for an edge.